[A2k] Minimum Exceptions and Limitations for Education

[Andrew Rens]

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Education is at the heart of development. The UN has recognized this fact
for quite some time. Implementing the World Intellectual Property
Organization's Development Agenda therefore requires a special focus on how
intellectual property rights interact with education. The Development Agenda
presents an opportunity to create globally applicable minimum exceptions to
copyrights for educational purposes.

But will this opportunity be recognized by the World Intellectual Property
Organisation, when its Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights
meets in its 17th Session from 3 to 7 November this year? The meeting agenda
includes an item on exceptions and limitations, and the meeting documents
include a Study on Copyright Limitations and Exceptions for Libraries and
Archives.

Should minimum exceptions for education be added to the agenda? A Working
Paper released by the Shuttleworth Foundation entitled, 'Implementing the
WIPO Development Agenda: Treaty Provisions on Minimum Exceptions and
Limitations for Education' argues that minimum exceptions for education are
an important part of

that the lack of harmony between educational exceptions presents an
unnecessary hurdle to educators who routinely communicate learning materials
across borders. This problem could be resolved by internationally agreed
minimum exceptions for education.

The Working Paper by Shuttleworth Foundation Intellectual Property Fellow
Andrew Rens is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 2.5
South Africa licence. The paper will ultimately appear as a chapter
'Implementing WIPO's Development Agenda' (Waterloo, ON: Wilfred Laurier
University Press/Centre for International Governance
Innovation/International Development Research Centre, 2009).


 The announcement of the paper is at

http://www.shuttleworthfoundation.org/node/1745


 The paper is available at

http://www.shuttleworthfoundation.org/sites/shuttleworthfoundation.org/files/ShuttleworthFoundation_Exceptions_Working_Paper_October_2008.pdf


 The documents for the 17th Session are at

http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/details.jsp?meeting_id=16828


Andrew Rens
Intellectual Property Fellow
Shuttleworth Foundation